Nebraska Baseball Preview

by Ryan Armbrust on Jan 13, 2007 7:04 PM CST

I just wrote up a short preview of Husker baseball at my site, The Pastime. I wanted to share it with you all here, but I'm having formatting problems with my HTML tags not being accepted by SBnation, and it ended up looking kind of... messed up.

So here's a link, and a snippet of what I wrote:

It's hard to believe, but one month from now, the Nebraska baseball team will open their season. They travel to Arlington, Texas to take on New Mexico in the UTA Classic on February 16. That's just 33 days from now.

That really snuck up on me...

So how will Nebraska follow up their disappointing early loss in the Regionals last season? How will they come back from the huge losses of Joba Chamberlain, Brett Jensen, Brandon Buckman and Luke Gorsett?

Well, NU is ranked #9 in the pre-season Collegiate Baseball poll, so they must have replenished their losses fairly well.

Texas is the only Big 12 school ranked above Nebraska, at #7. Though, it should be noted, the Big 12 will be strong this year, with Baylor (#21), Oklahoma State (#24) and Oklahoma (#34) also ranked. I'd tend to think that Baylor will be a force next year, if not now, since they did easily have Baseball America's #1 ranked recruiting class this year.

Here's my take on the lineup that the `Skers will probably trot out there this season. I based it on playing time last year, games started in the Red/White series, and talent coming in.

C - Jeff Lanning

Lanning is a sophomore, and has been waiting to take over the starting job for a year. Jeff Christy has now graduated, so the job is seemingly Lanning's for the taking. Junior Mark Hightower is an excellent defender, but his bat is only average for a catcher. I'd like to see Hightower get a shot, but that's probably jsut because I went to high school and church with him. Lanning is the pick. Newcomers Mitch Abeita and Dominic Piazza may also see some playing time at catcher, but it won't be much.

1B - Andrew Brown

The void left by Brandon Buckman will be hard to fill. Buckman was second on the team in home runs last year, and his moonshots to right field will be missed. Brown played some first and some corner outfield last season, but he'll likely play first base and DH this year. Look for juco transfer Thad Weber to put pressure on Brown; he's talented.

... more here

Anything you disagree with? Think someone else is going to make an impact? Let me know.